Dental floss-holder.



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CHARLES M. ovsiieliuon, or CLARION, iowa.

DENTAL. FLOSSHQLDER.

no. sealer.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 12, 1907.

Application tiled October 26. 1906. Serial No. 340,675.

improved Dental Floss-Holder, of which the 'following is' a full, clear,and exactv description.

I This invention relates to improvements in holders for floss employedin dentistry .for cleaning between-the teeth, the object beinfr toAprovide a device of this character that will be simple in'constructionin which new lengths .of floss may be quickly adjusted whenrequired and tightly clamped.

l, will describe a den-tal floss-holder embodying my invention and thenpoint out the novel features in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, formin(Y a part ofthis specilication, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts 1ny all the figures. lFigure 1 is a side view vof adental flossholder embodying my invention. Fig. 2 1s a section on theline w of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a back View, and Fig. 4 is a section of aportion of the device drawn on an enlarged scale and Y clearlyillustrating the clamping means.

' the longitudinal opening in the handle of the .Reierrin to thedrawings, 1 designates the metal hanV le of' the' device, which is openlongitudinally at one side, as indicated at 2, so 4that the handle mayyield to frictionally hold the floss-cartridge 3, Also frictionally heldin the handle is a cap 4, used to hold the floss in the {loss-cartridge.This cap is slittedon one side, the said slit terminating in acentrally-located perforation 5, through which the i'losspasses. Byplacing the cap so that the slit in said cap is in the center of devicethe floss may be passed through the perforation 5 on the insertlon of anew cartridge without removing the cap from its' place in the handle. Ato ne end of the handle. and integraltherewith 1s a curved head 6, thefree end of which terminates practically in a straight line, or ratherin the same plane, with a clamping device to be hereinafter described.This curved ortion on the rear side is channeled, as indicated at 7, andthrough this channel the floss passes, At the juncture oi the curvedportion and the .handle the material is widened to form cheekpieces 8,one of which, als clearly indicated in Eig. 1. is somewhat wider thanthe other, and

the wider cheek-piece has at its end a laterally-extended member 9,which forms one jaw of the clamping device.

The outward edge of the lesser cl'ieek-piece at the juncture of saidcheek-piece and the handle terminates in a knife-edge 8a, on which usedlength of loss, maybe severed when fresh iloss is in position for use.

The movable part of the clamping device consists of a spring-yieldingplate bent to form jaw members 10 11, which ccact one with the other,and the4 jaw 11 coacts with the stationary jaw 9. At the lower portionthe jaws l0 and 11 are joined by a substantially triangular bend 12,provided with a perforation 18, through which the floss passes, and atthe upper end the jaw 10 is connected t'o an inwardly-extended plate 14.The space between the members 10 and 14 is designedto hold packing tolcompensate for wear and to re ulate the pressure of the clampingvjaws. Te packing is held firmly in place by the inwardly-turned upper por'-tion of the plate and the lugs 17. At the juncture of the jaw and theplate is a perforation 15, through which the floss may pass. Theperforations 13 and 15 serve as guides to hold the floss in the centerof. jaws 10 and 11.

Pivoted between the cheek-pieces is an' of the jaws 10 11 and under thecenter of the end of the clamping-lever.

The operation of the device isquite Obvious from the drawings-thatis,the iloss is drawn from the cartridge, passes through the opening in thecc-vcr 4, then through the opening in the part l2 and between theInovable jaws 10 and 11, then vthrough the perforation 1b, through thechannel 7, and then is carried down between 'the jaws 9 and 11, the"resh ilcss being separated from the used length by jaw 11, after whichthe lever 16 is to be swung into the position indicated in the drawingsto tightly clamp the floss. By longitudinally slitting the handle it notonly serves the purpose before mentioned, but the slit permits asuitable instrument to be inlofi IIO

serted to remove the ness-cartridge When a new cartridge is to beinserted or to remove the cap. y

.Having thus `lescribed myI invention, I claim as lnew and desire tosecure by Letters Patentf 1. A dental `flcss-l'iolder comprising atubular handle adapted to receive a {loss-cartridge, a curvedl portionextended from the handle, cheek-pieces at the junction of the curvedportion and the handle, one of said cheekLpiveces having a fixed jawmember,'an angle-1everv` pivoted between the cheek- Aieces, and a. j'aWvmember operated by said ever.- y

2. A dental Hess-'holder comprising a tubular resilient handle, the saidhandle bing longitudinally slitted at one side, a fle ss-cartridgeadapted to en age in the handle, a cap frictionally held in t e handlehaving a perf craticn through which the floss may pass, a curved portionat one end of the handle, and a clamping device at the junction 'of thecurved portion and the handle.

. being a perforation at the two snbscribing Witnesses.

3. -A dental floss-holder comprising a tubular handle, a curved portionat one end'of the handle, cheek-pieces at the junction of the curvedportion and the handle, one of the said check-pieces havin alaterally-extended portion forming a fixe jaw. member, a cutting devicein said cheek-pieces, an angle lever pivoted between the cheek-pieces,`a" pair of jaws carried by the angle-lever, the said j aws beingsprinU-yielding and having a substantially triangiar connection at oneend, the said connection b eing perforated, f

and a plate-like member connected t0 the inner one cf the saidlast-named jaws, theresaid plate and jaw.

name to this specification in the presence of CHARLES M.

Witnesses: Y

HAL E. SMITH, N. O. PETERSON;

ovEnBAnen.

junction of the A, 4o In testimony whereof I have signed my

